This is one of those "in-between" weeks. No football until the Super Bowl next Sunday, no NASCAR races as the 2007 season doesn't start until February, and no baseball 'cause Spring Training is a few weeks off yet. There is still NHL hockey, which has recently gotten a LOT better with the resurgent Blues. Still, about all there is to do this Saturday is complain about the state of the world.*The US Congress is bending itself into a pretzel trying to oppose President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq while not appearing unsupportive of the military. Somehow, the pols are claiming you can call the plan a failure even before the commanding general who devised the plan gets settled in-country. At the same time, his appointment was approved unanimously by the same chameleons who are criticizing the plan. If we spent as much time fighting the jihadists and their sponsors as we do fighting each other, the war would be well on the way to being won.
*The 2008 looney season is well under way as numerous Democrats and Republicans are already running for President. We've got newbies like Obama and Huckabee, retreads like Biden, McCain, Dodd, and Gore, to the really scary ones like Hillary and Hagel. If we're lucky, somebody new will come out of the fog and actually make sense. And if THAT happens, I have some residential property in Times Beach you may be interested in.
*My new company, Abbott Labs, has announced the integration of my old company, Kos, will be complete by March 5. Sometime between now and then "Kos Nation" will find out where we'll end up: on a new team or on the street. I have to admit to ambivalent feelings. On the one hand, it's nice to have a job. On the other, I left AstraZeneca a few years back because I was fed up with all the "Bravo Sierra" of Big Pharma. Now if I could just win PowerBall....
*Poor Michael Devlin, his lawyers are concerned for his safety in the Franklin County jail after a college student posing as a friend got in to visit him. I agree he should be moved. Just place him in the state pen at Jefferson City and put him right in among the general prison population. I guarantee it wouldn't be long before he wouldn't have to worry about anything ever again.
*I'm picking the Indianapolis Colts to win the Super Bowl, 35-17. I admire Bears Coach Lovie Smith a lot, and wish the Chicagoans well, but Indy's defense has played very well in the playoffs, and the Colt's offense is superb. This was a tough year to pick a favorite, and I'll be happy for whichever team emerges the victor.
*Here's hoping the families of Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck get a break from the round-the-clock media coverage of their rescue. More than anything else, these folks need a lot of downtime and a lot of counseling. Here's hoping the reporters and editors can put themselves in these families shoes and just let them be.
Everyone have a great weekend, a successful and productive week at work (or play!), and remember the immortal words of Homer J Simpson on how to get by in life:
"It was that way when I got here!"
"Great idea, Boss!"
"Cover for me!"
